Saturday, April 28, 2018

Salem Media Purges 'Red State' Staff

Conservative outlet RedState fired most of its staff Friday while its owner, Salem Media, froze the site, citing an inability to "no longer support the entire roster of writers and editors."

"The site name will linger, but RedState is all but dead now. I have invited the fired writers here," Erick Erickson, a RedState founder who left the site in 2015, wrote in a blog post.

According to The Hill, fired staffers said the cuts focused on writers who have been critical of President Trump. RedState had often distinguished itself since 2016 as a home for Trump critics within the GOP.

RedState staffers were reportedly locked out of their accounts on a temporary or permanent basis, depending on job status, while the firings were being carried out.

Patrick Frey, a RedState blogger who goes by the name of "Patterico" online, wrote on Twitter that "those let go are all Trump critics" while "his supporters remain."

Erickson also echoed Frey's sentiment in his Friday blog post, stating the dividing line was drawn between supporters of the president while "those insufficiently loyal to the President were fired."

A memo to staff obtained by CNN by a general manager of Salem-owned Townhall.com confirmed the "tough changes" made at RedState.